


We All Fall Sometimes

by SoftNFluff



Series: Last Chance Gavin [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Coloring, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Gavin is an angry baby, Gen, Hugging, Hugs, Non-Sexual Age Play, Therapy, Trans Gavin Reed, elements of those, stuffed animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24156148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoftNFluff/pseuds/SoftNFluff
Summary: Gavin’s therapy has been going Great. He’s kept up with his meetings with Fowler, he’s gone to all of his sessions, and he’s even stayed out of Connor’s way, for the most part. Of course, that means Gavin has to mess it all up.But that doesn’t mean everything is unsalvageable. Or that so much damage had even been caused.
Relationships: Connor & Gavin Reed, Jeffrey Fowler & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Last Chance Gavin [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743229
Comments: 13
Kudos: 113





	We All Fall Sometimes

For the past three weeks, Gavin has been doing remarkably well. He had followed almost all of Mr Stern’s instructions (he had left his new Calico Kitty stuffed animal at home, though, so no one would notice how babyish he was), had gone to every stupid session and even stupider follow up with Captain Fowler, and had avoided Connor the best he could, which wasn’t easy considering the stupid dumbfuck Android seemed to cross his path any chance he got. So of course, that meant Gavin had to blow it all up. 

Gavin hadn’t even known emergency sessions were A Thing, but his prior ignorance didn’t stop the fact that Gavin was currently sat in a too-plush chair, Mr Stern peering at him from his swivel chair. 

“And why are we here, Gavin?” Mr Stern stared at him with a look fit to match his name. 

Gavin fidgeted. He wanted to keep his hands in his lap, to look the part of an “upstanding young man” that would breeze through dumb anger management therapy, but the more he thought about what had happened, the angrier he got, and the more he needed to do something with his hands.   
“Because you think I’m crazy.” He spat. 

“No, Gavin.” Stern said. His led blinked from blue to yellow, which meant he was making a note. 

“Then what?” 

“I know you know why you’re here. And I want you to be the one to tell me.” 

“Because… I’m still having problems.”

“You’re still learning. And go on.”

“And I blew up. At that dumb- at Connor.” He tried to shove the image out of his mind, but he could still see that big stupid grin as Connor reached out to him. All he wanted was to claw it from the Android’s face. 

“Blew up?” 

“I- I screamed at him. And I tried to hit him. But I said I was sorry afterwards!” He had, even if he hadn’t meant it. 

“Alright. I’m sure he appreciated the apology.”

He hadn’t. Though funnily enough, he had looked more hurt than angry, from the peek Gavin got while he was staring at his feet. 

“Now, Gavin. Why did you try to hit him?” Mr Stern’s eyes crinkled, and Gavin decided he hated that more than his frown. It was almost like he cared. 

“... He just snuck up on me. And tried to touch me. Didn’t realize it was him until it was too late.” He whispered. 

“Ok.” Mr Stern said. “That’s alright, Gavin. That’s an understandable reaction, given your circumstances. When he touched you, did you try any of your coping mechanisms? Like the deep breathing, or asking with your words for some space, or maybe hugging your stuffed animal, Callie?” 

Gavin regretted telling Mr Stern her name. “Didn’t… I didn’t have Callie with me.”

“Why not? Does she not help?”

“I’m not a child.” Gavin crossed his arms tightly over his chest. At least he had a place for them now. 

“Does she still help you, Gavin?”

“I’m Not. A. Child.” 

“You’re not.” Gavin figured “But you’re sure as hell acting like one.” Was implied in Mr Stern’s statement. “You’re an adult in need of help.” 

Before Gavin could mutter that he didn’t need help, Mr Stern stood. “I think it’s best that we emulate a situation like the one that triggered your anxiety. Now, I’m going to reach out to touch you, and you’re going to respond using one of the coping strategies we discussed. Is that clear?”

Gavin nodded. 

The next half hour passed by in stilted interaction. At first they practiced Gavin breathing deeply when Mr Stern rested his hand on his back or his arm, even if the touch both made him nauseous and lonely. Then they had Gavin say, in a stilted voice, “Could you please give me some space? This touch is making me uncomfortable.” Gavin even had to practice hugging a stuffed animal, the Siamese with bright blue eyes, to cope. Gavin liked that the least; he hated to admit it, but it wasn’t the same when it wasn’t Callie. 

“Can I go now?” The session ended at 5:30 pm, and it was already 5:27. 

“One moment, please. I want you to bring Callie with you wherever you go, until our next visit. And be sure to tell me how that works out. And… I was wondering if you’d appreciate a hug? I know this was a trying session, and I’m proud of you.”

Gavin nodded. “S’ok.” For reasons he didn’t want to dig into, he never seemed to mind hugs from Mr Stern. 

Mr Stern smiled, and he opened his arms for Gavin to lean into. This one was a quick hug, more like a pat on the back than a whole drawn out squeeze, but Gavin couldn’t help wanting to lean into it, at least a little. 

By the time Gavin got home, he was exhausted. Sarah greeted him at the door, and he barely had the energy to scoop her up into his arms. She seemed to sense this, too, and was content just to snuggle up against him as he plopped down in front of the TV. 

He would have fallen asleep there, if not for the chest binder still clinging to him, and he trudged to his bedroom, pulling it off. Sarah lazed on his pillow, in prime position to snuggle up against his head while he laid down, and Callie was on the bedside table where he had left her. On an impulse, he grabbed her, cradling her to himself as he fell into sleep. 

The next two days went surprisingly smooth. Connor didn’t dare come close to Gavin, and a quick rundown of the Emergency Meeting, where Gavin stuttered just a little when describing the multitudes of ways they had practiced Gavin’s “conflict resolution”, were enough to sate Fowler. He almost got away with not telling her about Callie, too. 

“I see you have the cat again.” Something close to a smile had crossed Fowler’s face, and Gavin flushed. He tugged gently on Callie’s paw, rolling it between his thumb and finger. 

“Yeah.” Gavin mumbled. 

“I suppose that’s your therapist’s doing?”

“Doctor’s orders, Yeah.” Gavin nodded. Callie’s paw flattened in his hand. 

“I hope it’s helping you.” Fowler had given him a healthy pat on the back before leaving, and Gavin had only flinched away a little. 

Gavin was set to have a remarkably good week, one hr could even call himself proud of. Until he saw Connor. The stupid Android was staring at him again. 

Gavin fixed his best frown on his face, making sure it was visible even from where he was tucked away in the back. Connor stood by the water cooler, and Gavin fantasized about shooting lasers from his eyes into it, just to watch it spray Connor. Gavin grinned. 

At that moment, Connor grinned back. He had the same shit-eating grin as the dicks who used to bully him in the locker room for being trans. All teeth and no eyes. Before Gavin could school his face back into a glower, Connor was walking over. 

The first thought that entered Gavin's head was to run. If he bolted now, he could make it past Connor and into the bathroom. He had half-risen form his desk before he realized the much more pressing problem. 

Callie sat front and center on his desk (she had been watching him work, thank you very much). And Connor’s eyes were trained right on her. 

“Gavin!” He said with a wave. 

Gavin stiffened. “Connor.” He wanted to call him Cuntnor, but Mr Stern would be sad. 

“Is that yours?” He pointed at Callie, and Gavin’s lip curled. The prick was going to laugh at him, he just knew it. Connor was like everyone in Gavin’s life; as soon as he saw a weakness, he’d pounce. 

“So what if she is?” He snarled, grabbing Callie by her paws and yanking her back into his lap 

“I have one just like it!”

What. Gavin blinked. Surely he had mistaken Connor. But when he tuned back into the conversation, Connor was prattling on about his own stuffed animal. 

“-Not JUST like, since he’s a dog, but I think they’re made by the same company, and he also sits at my desk, until Hank makes me put him away because he says it’s staring and that’s CREEPY but-“

“What.” Gavin said. 

“I can show you!” Connor reached out then yanked his hand back, an apology already forming on his lips. 

Gavin swallowed bile. “Um… I have work to do.” He mumbled woodenly. Mr Stern had never fed him a script for positive social interaction with Connor. Something squirmed in his stomach. 

“Ok! Maybe next time, right?”

Gavin nodded. 

“Next time. And I’ll hold you to that.” Connor made finger guns that turned into a wave goodbye. And he was grinning again. Up close, Gavin realized it did reach his eyes. It was awkward as all hell, sure, but nothing like a bully. 

————- 

“And how did our little experiment go?” Mr Stern asked. 

Gavin was currently on the floor, doodling a comic about electric yellow and blue kitties with the theme of “making friends”, which was all Mr Stern’s idea. He also had two chocolate chip cookies, homemade, shoved into his mouth, and he chewed quickly and swallowed, just like Mr Stern had taught him, before answering. “It’s ok.”

“Did your friends like Callie?”

“What friends?” Gavin wanted to ask. Well, he had Tina, at least, and she hadn’t really mentioned it. In fact, the only two people who had mentioned anything about it were Fowler and Connor. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Good. And did you like Callie?”

Gavin nodded. “Yeah. I think she helped a lot.”


End file.
